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Grace College goalkeeper Abby Schue is returning to form as the Lady Lancers enter play in the Crossroads League tournament this evening. (File photos by Mike Deak)
WINONA LAKE – It’s a position most teams don’t want advertised, or encroached upon. To limit the amount of exposure on the pitch for the goalkeeper, the better, which means shots aren’t going into the net.
Almost like a referee, coaches prefer not to hear from their goalkeepers unless they are directing traffic. Not because they aren’t nice people or carry value, but the exact opposite in that the goalkeeper is the last line of defense between glory and misery. Using that model, Grace College women’s soccer senior goalkeeper Abby Schue has been a touch out of form this season to injury, but is mending quickly as Grace prepares for its second season.
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The wall between the pipes Schue has created has been among an injury plagued season, where she missed a little time and gutted through some tough days hobbled with a right leg injury. Even deciding to punt left footed to keep her alt-colored uniform on, Schue knows 2017 hasn’t been her shining example, but it’s been more about persevering and setting an example as a senior for a team in need of elder leadership.
“No keeper likes getting scored on, but I just have to stay consistent,” Schue said. “I feel like I’m at the point now that goals scored in the past are in the past, and I can learn from them and move forward. I’m trying to make myself better for the future. It starts with me.”
As a junior Schue earned the highest honor for an NAIA keeper by being named the First Team All-America, given to just one keeper and solidifying her as the best there is in the country, as well as garnering a bucketful of NCCAA and Crossroads League honors. She was also named Honorable Mention NAIA All-American as a sophomore and was chosen as NCCAA All-American as a freshmen during Grace’s historic run to the national championship match. All told in her career, Schue has recorded 43 shutouts and has helped Grace rise as one of the top outfits in the country. Her accomplishments take up nearly half a page on her bio on Grace’s soccer page.
But talking about her worth isn’t Schue, who can be vocal on the pitch, but other times, just rotating with the pace of play and adjusting. Her instincts have helped the team to a 7-7-4 mark this season, but playing one of the toughest schedules in NAIA soccer. Schue is personally 7-5-4 in those contests and has posted six shutout wins and seven total clean slates among the lot. In those 16 matches, Schue has allowed just 20 goals (1.08 average) and has given up two or more goals just five times. Grace goalkeeper coach Jon Hoover has marveled at the find Schue has been, who didn’t really warrant much travel in recruitment after a historic career at Warsaw Community High School.
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“Abby holds herself to such a high level, and that carries over to what she has been able to do,” said Hoover, who also serves as Warsaw’s girls soccer head coach. “I’ve never seen a keeper that has had an injury to their good leg, then just decide to punt the ball with their other leg and send it halfway down the field. She just wants to be in every game. She’s worked so hard, and you have to hold her back just a bit because she wants to be back in form so bad. She’s as competitive as anyone I’ve seen in net.”
Added Grace College head coach Michael Voss of Schue’s leadership, “In year’s past, she has been phenomenal. She has multiple years of national tournament experience. She’s fantastic. The hard part is that she has been injured most of the year, and most people don’t know or realize that. She hasn’t been able to get to the balls she normally gets, and that’s where you’ve seen some heavy scores. Her explosiveness to make some incredible saves, she has done that against teams like St. Francis and two against Indiana Wesleyan. Those are things teams wish they had someone like that, someone who can get across the goal and just be a wall.”
No. 7 Grace will open Crossroads League tournament play today (Wednesday) on the road at one of the country’s finest in No. 2 Marian, which are 11-0-1 at home this season, at 7 p.m. Marian beat Grace, 2-1, on Oct. 4 in Winona Lake.
“When we play to our potential, and play as a team, we are at our best,” Schue said. “I am so happy with the direction we are going right now, everyone on the field is working together as a team. It’s about what we are doing, our perspective, our potential. We’ll get results that way. When we focus on the right things, the results are coming as a byproduct.”